I had been hearing about this coffee shop for months from friends and other SF locals who, like me, appreciate the worth of a hot cup of joe on a foggy city morning. Always a sucker for hidden neighborhood gems, I hopped on the 6 one morning to nab breakfast with the talented Tory Putnam. Our destination? Hollow.
In a tiny but marvelously charming spot on Irving Street, Hollow is everything I love about coffee shops. It’s a cozy space with a window seat, old school tchotchkes, and a dark chocolate mocha that arrives with a giant, homemade, fluffy marshmallow that makes me forget that it’s 7:30 in the morning.
Hollow opened in 2011 under the ownership of Dawn Kirker and her husband William LaMontagne. Dawn is an interior designer and immediately saw potential in the quirky space. She sought out to make a great coffee shop that the neighborhood needed and which recreated some of her favorite places she had visited while traveling.
All the pastries are from local vendors as well as baked by Dawn and William themselves. In the photos, you can spy a cinnamon roll biscuit from Biscuit Bender that I gleefully devoured; the biscuit mix is available for purchase as well. The coffee comes from Ritual Roasters and has funky concoctions like the Titanic and a Butterscotch Latte.
When at Hollow, you escape the fast pace of living in the city and enter a space of creativity and wonder. Check it out when you can – it’s only a bus ride away.
Hollow
1435 Irving Street (Inner Sunset)
415.242.4119
Open Weekdays 8am – 6pm; Weekends 9am-6pm
Leave a Reply